The City Council and the Dock Question.

Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 134, 8 June 1883, Page 2

The City Council and the Dock Question.

Tho dock question was "brought under tho notice of tho City Council last night by .means of a communication rocoived from tho Wellington Harbour Board, forwarding copy of a resolution passod at a special meoting of tho Board on the 28th ultimo, already published. The letter ran as follows :— " In order to enable Wellington to take full advantage of its central position in tho colony, and the facilities which nature has bestowed, it is absolutely necessary that tho port should be ablo to offer shipping equal advantages for repairing and overhauling as aro usually availablo in othor first-class ports. A frraving dock is au urgent necessity, ami until one ia oonatruotod Wellington- munt nocesßarily hold a (secondary position. In order to derivo full advantiigo from a dock in this harbour, it bhould bo (situated in an easily accessible position, not Very far from the chief businoss portion of the oity. There is reason to believe that a suitable site is offered at the To Aro end of tho harbour, eastward of tho reclamation now in oouno of being mado there. This unroolaimod foreshore has been vosted in tho Corporation for the benefit of tho oity and harbour of Wellington, and, in tho opinion of the Board, it in no way can bo moro usofullv employed than by being devoted to dock purposes. Had there been a Harbour Board in existence at the time tho grant was made, no doubt the lend title of the land would have boen vested in it. instead of in the only then existing looal body, tho City Corporation. 1 might hero point out that the foreßhoroß at Auckland and Lyttelton are vested in the respective Harbour Boards, materially assisting in providing dooka at those ports, and that deprived of similar reserves, it is impossible for this Board, whose only revonuo is from wharf and port charges, to provido the dock aooommodation so essential to tho prosperity of Wel> lington. In asking tho Corporation to dovoto a portiqn of. tho To Aro foroshoro now to dbok purposes, tho Board feel that they are really "asking the Corporation to carry out the purposes for whioh the land was granted. Tho > transfer of ownership .would bo only nominal, for both bodtok praotioally roprosent tho same oonstituonoy, the inhabitants of the city of Wellington, and while tho Corporation would share jointly with tho Harbour Board in all tho indirect advantages rosulting from tho construction of a dook, and tho increase of trade and population which would no doubt follow, it would derive a direot and immediate bonofit from the increased value whioh tho vicinity of a dook would givo to tho reolaimod land at To Aro, as a site for workshops, factories, and variousindnstries eonnooted with ship-yards. For.tjioso and othor reasons the Board trusts to moot with the oordial co-operation of tho City Council in forwarding tho construction of a work likely to prove of suoh great benefit to tho inhabitants of Wellington." Councillor Greenfield proposed that tho letter be referred to tho Publio Works Committeo. Councillor Allen would like to hoar tho Crown grant read. The Mayor objected to the lottor being referred to a committee. All agreed that a graving dook was an urgent nooossity. but tho letter contained a number of gratuitous, assertions whioh ho could not allow to post without challongo. For instanoe, yqty large engineering questions wero ombracod in it. The question as to whether it was denireblo to havo the dook placed at tho To Aro end was one for scientific marine ongiooora to dotermino, not for this universal letterwriter, whose fine Roman hand was plainly perooptiblo on all that he wrote. Mr. Baffour, after examining every possible sito in the harbour, had given it as his deliberate professional opinion that a spot near Kaiwarra was the most "Bui table of them all. The' letter contained other ex cathedra assertions whioh could bo as easily refuted. The Crown grant stated that tho land or water (whichevor they ohoso to term it) was to bo given for purposes of roolamation, and that was tho oxact purpose for whioh tho Corporation was applying it. He denied that the Harbour Board nad evor been "deprived" of foroshoro through the existenoo of the Council. It was not the fault of the Council that the Harbour Board was not endowed with sufficient funds to construct a dock, and ho protested agamst the Board coming to the Counoil to make up their deficiencies. Tho Board could raise ¦ £31,000 to-morrow upon their debentures, so it was not corroot to say they hod no revenue exoept wharf and port charges. The statement, moreover, dhitt tho Counoil and the JJoard' " roprosen tod the same constituencies " was quite illusory. Tho Council might just as well go to the Board and ask them to oomploto tho Glenberrio cutting. If tho Council handod over any endowment they at present possessed the result would bo that in ten yoars' time the Board would be possossod of money which rightly belonged to the Counoil, and could cany on their operations without imposing increased port charges. Then people would say, "Look now admirably tho Harbour Board manages its business," whilo on the other hand the Corporation would bo compelled to imposo additional rates to make up tho deficiency of that which was gono* The Council's existenoo at the present moment was a band to mouth strngglo, and to comply with ;tho Board's reqaost would make matters worse. Thoy already had liabilities to the extent of £400,000, and this reclamation wasplodged to their creditors. Besides the Coufioilhad nothing to thank tho Harbour Board for, owing to thoir adverse attitude to the verypieoo of land they now wanted as a gift. Ho moved that a copy of the following resolution, passed by the Graving Dock Committee, be forwarded to tho Board as an answer to their communication :— " That in view of tho fact that the City Council has been divested of atl control over tho harbour of Port Nicholson, which control, by Act of tho Legislature, has been vested in the Wellington Harbour Board, thiß Council declines to admit that tho City Council is charged with any duty or re« eponsibility connected with the construction of a dock for tho port, tho carrying out of such a work being specially denned by the ' Harbours Act, 1878,' as ono of the functions for whioh Harbour Boards were created." Councillor Allen briefly seoondod the motion, contending it was the duty of the Conncil to conserve the endowment in question for future generations. Councillor M'Kenzie said the best plaorfl* for a dock was off Kaiwarra, whoro yt could pitch a biscuit into -40ft of Water. j%~ dock at tho To Aro end wonld be no good to tho Board. He was glad to hoar tho Mayor so outspoken on the matter. Councillor A. W. Brown looked npon the letter a* a piece of arrant presumption. The Board had a strip of foreshore from the Thorndon baths to Kaiwarra. Surely they ought to be contented with that for a dook. Councillor Newman also agreed with muoh of what had fallen from the Mayor. To oonstraot this dook at Te Aro, wonld be to destroy £75,000 or 4100,000 worth of pro* pertv. Councillor Logan pointed out, as the Mayor had already said, that this property, being definitely pledged to creditors in England, the Counoil had no power whatever to do what was asked. That ought to be their answer to tho Board. Councillor Maginnity was astonished at the request that had been mode. The Board might just as well have asked the West Coast Railway Company to gisre them a piece of bind for tho construction of a dook. Councillor Greenfield expressed sorrow at tho position the Conncil hod taken up, and suggested that the Conncil should give the Board 10 acres of unreclaimed land as a site for a dock. Councillor Miller thought the Board should be asked for a tracing of what they did require. He did not think they ought to make an enemy of the Board. The Mayor— Can they do anything to us if we do make an enemy of them ? Councillor Miller thonght it better to be friendly than otherwise. Councillor ' S. Brown characterUed the statements in the letter as simply the opinions of a non-expert. , The Mayor, before putting the resolution, expressed his opinion that the Board was trifling with the question of dook construction, and had not yet to his mind given the least indication of a serious intention to proceed with the construction of a dock. The Board hod made a request which they knew could not be granted, so that they might be able to say, " We have asked the Council to present us with this land. They have not done to, and we have not been able to proceed with the dock. The onus, therefore, resta with the Council and not with us." Tho motion wu then carried. An envious old moid remarks: — "It has been observed that a bride will scratch her nose with her left hand, in a given period, our times as often as any other woman."